Can You Handle It?
by breathless16
Summary: New looks often lead to new feelings, especially between a genius and a redhead. But when a new force begin kidnapping muggleborns, will Ron's strength be enough? FINISHED! 1.21.06 ALTERNATE END
1. New Look, New Feelings

"Ron, when is Hermione coming?" Harry said as he passed the quaffle to Ginny.

"I'm not sure, she said she was coming in early august. Please stop hogging the ball though!" Ron sneered.

"Why are you so worried anyway?" Ginny said.

"Well, where could she be? I mean, we haven't gotten any mail from her." Harry said shrugging his shoulders. Ron nodded.

"By the way, did you get your O.W.L's yet Ron?" Harry said, smiling smugly.

"…" Ron's ear's turned bright red.

Ginny then piped up, "He got em' a week ago. Mom went ballistic." Harry's eyes bulged.

"Ron, how bad did you do?"

"Oh, I didn't mean it that way. Ron got 10 out of 14." Harry's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head.

"You didn't tell me!" he said smiling.

"I figured…you must have got better."

"Um…no! I got 8!"

"8is still good. Harry. Fred got 6, and George only got 5. Look where they are now," Ginny said rolling her eyes.

"…Did you get one in Potions?" Harry asked quickly and painlessly

"…yes?" Ron squeaked.

"Well, that's great!" Harry said grinning.

Ron opened his mouth, but stopped as soon as he heard, "Why, Hermione my dear, come in!" Harry looked up.

"She's finally here," Ginny said. They jumped off their brooms. They ran up and expected to see Hermione's bushy amber hair, but what they saw surprised them.

"Mom, who's that?" Ginny said. All they saw was sleek, shiny dark brown hair. The girl turned around. All three of them dropped their broomsticks.

"Her...Hermione!" they gasped. She smiled while blushing.

She had shoulder length, pin-straight deep brown hair. Her teeth were almost perfect, and were pearl white. She wore a pink tank top and jean capris. She wore makeup, and tons of jewelry.

"Hi," she said waving her hand in front of their faces. They all jerked out of it.

"What's all your problem?" she said giggling.

"Well…um…you look…different," Harry said. He then hugged her. She smiled. Ginny came up.

"I love your hair," she squealed. Her mom then told Ginny to take Hermione's stuff to Ginny's room, where Hermione would be staying. Ron could not stop staring.

"Ron!" she said, pulling him out of lalaland. He put out his hand, because she would never hug him like she did Harry. It always hurt him. She pushed the hand away, and gave him a hug.

"It's good to see you," she whispered into his ear. He felt his ears turning all shade of crimson that they could.

She looked at them, shook her head, and then smiled. He heard someone come down the stairs. When Harry saw him standing there, gaping, he hit him on the head. "What the hell are you staring at?" Harry said.

"Uh…nothing!" Ron said looking around.

"Sure," Harry said as he walked outside.

"Why, what are you thinking?" Ron said angrily. Harry turned around.

"Sorry to have to inform you about this, Ron, butwhen you saw Hermione, you practically started to drool. Then I see you gaping at the spot where she just stood. Put it all together…Ron, you've got a crush on her…even if you don't want it," Harry said.

"But…I can't! She your girlfriend." Ron said looking at the ground.

"WAS is the correct word. She isn't anymore. We were both too strong-headed. Oh and by the way…um…I can't help you pack tonight." Harry said, not making eye contact with Ron.

"Why?" Ron said suspiciously.

"Mgongnaateithinny," he mumbled at super speed.

"Bloody hell, man, what does that mean?" Harry sighed.

"I'm going on a date with Ginny," Ron's eyes bulged.

"You are going on a date with my little sister?"

"Ron…it's not like she's five. She's fifteen. I'm sixteen. Not a huge difference."

"But who's going to help me pack?" he said…but he kind of already knew what Harry was going to say.

"Ask Hermione." Harry said. Ron grumbled, and then stormed up to his room to play with his Pidgewigeon.

Ron gathered the courage that night, and went to Ginny's room. He reached his hand out to knock on the door, but quickly turned around and raked his fingers through his hair. "I can do this," he said to himself.

He spun around, and found himself face-to-face with Hermione. "Can I help you?" she said with a smirk on her face.

"Ah…I…um," Ron stuttered blushing.

"try words Ron. They work better than random syllables," Hermione said giggling.

"Look, Harry went out on a date with Ginny, so…I was wondering if you could help me pack. I haven't done it yet, and I'd like to get it out of the way."

"Sure, why not? I've got nothing better to do. …Wait, Harry went on a date with Ginny? As in Ginny, your little sister?" Hermione said amazed.

"Exactly what I said," Ron said smiling.

Hermione burst out laughing, but caught herself. "Sorry, it's kind of mean…but it's kind of strange…no offense," she said before she began to snicker. Ron then started to chuckle as well.

Later in Ron's room, Hermione was packing away his books while Ron worked on his clothes. "Do you think they could have given us any more books? Or heavier ones?" Hermione said as she grunted, placing a DATDA book into his trunk.

"Tell me about it." Ron slammed the trunk lid down, and walked over to Harry's bed, where the other trunk lay. Hermione glanced at a book about 1 foot high, and about a foot and a half long.

"Uh, can you help me with that?" Hermione picked it up, not knowing Ron hadn't grabbed it. But she wasn't strong enough, so she dropped the book and dropped onto the bed. Ron tried to grab her, but tripped and fell on the bed next to her. He looked into her eyes. She gave him a smile. He smiled back.

After a brief silence, he muttered "Whoops." He stood up, and then offered his hand to help Hermione up. She grabbed and he pulled her up with no problem.

"Wow, you're strong," she said amazed.

"Well, you're not exactly deadweight," he said. "Uh…forget I ever said that," he said.

"It's okay…no offense taken." She yawned.

"I think I will be going to bed now," She opened the door, and he walked her back to her room. Opening the door for her, he thanked her, and then closed the door. He smiled to himself, and thought, "Bloody hell, what am I getting my self into?"


	2. The Shadow

As Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione boarded the Hogwarts Express, people were talking behind there backs.

"Who's she?"

"God, she's hot!"

"Awesome!"

"Why's she hanging around with Potter and Weasley?"

She smiled embarrassed, then turned, and found an empty room.

"Come on," she said, nodding toward the room on the train. They followed her in. She sat down. Harry sat on the other side, followed by Ginny, who got to the seat before Ron. Ron then sat down reluctantly next to Hermione.

"Have you heard who the new DADA teacher is?" Ginny asked.

"I heard it's a female, but much better than Umbridge. Her name is Miss Mila T. Evodrom. She real young, only about 28," Hermione said softly.

Harry then said, "Yeah, that's what I heard. What do you think Ron?" Ron was staring at Hermione, but stopped before she turned to him.

"Ah, who cares? She probably isn't any good. The only two that were actually good were "Mad-Eye Moody" and Lupin. Lupin left because he was a werewolf, and "Moody" wasn't actually the real Moody. He was some freak out to get you!" Ron said pointing to Harry.

"I guess you're right," Hermione mumbled inaudibly. The train then screeched to a halt abruptly.

"What the heck is going on?" Ginny said. They looked out the window. They saw a dark shadowy figure looming around and opening only certain doors. When they saw some people come out the train room that the thing had just been in, they saw two young Gryffindor's, a young Ravenclaw, and Colin Creevy. When the creature came toward their area, it practically ripped the doors off the hinges.

It flew around the room, and stopped sharply over Hermione and Ron. It then flew out after Crookshanks hissed at it. Hermione petted the cat nervously. It then flew down toward the end of the train. "Bloody Hell! What was that?" Ron said shocked.

"Are you guys okay?" Seamus said poking his head through the door.

"We heard it across the way." He said, pointing to the room across. Dean, Luna and Neville peered out.

"Yeah, we're fine," Harry said perplexed. Hermione was shaking, and Ginny was beginning to cry.

"Don't cry, Ginny," Ron ordered. Harry turned to her, and wiped the tears away. Ron looked over at Hermione and saw her trembling uncontrollably. He placed a hand on her shoulder. She still wasn't stopping. He gently grabbed her chin. He made eye contact.

"Are you okay?" He asked gently. She then was shaken out of it.

She brushed her hair behind her ears. "Yeah, thanks," she said. She stroked her cat as the train began moving again.

When they finally got there, most of the kids were extremely stunned. As they stepped of, they were directed into the boats by Hagrid. When he saw Harry, Ron, and Ginny, a confused look appeared on his face. "Where's Hermione?" he said.

"Hi Hagrid," she said happily.

"Hermione, is that you?" She giggled, and then nodded. "Well, you look different.Now scram youselves to the Great Hall,"As theymade their way to the main building, they could sense everyone else stillfelt a little nervous. Once the got off, and went into the school, they stopped on the stairwell. They were talking when they saw a very ugly face with two ugly bodies. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle came up.

"Well, have a look here. Only two of the three stooges. And who is this?" Malfoy said to Hermione.

"I don't believe we've met. I am Draco Malfoy, and I should advise you not to hang around these two for a long time. They'll rub off their weirdness."

"Why, how sweet of you to warn me," Hermione said in a sugar-coated voice.

"Yes, well, I happen to know that they are a whole bunch of troublemakers. Hang around them, and you'll spend your life in detention. But I myself, am a prefect, and am an upstanding student." He said kissing her hand. She smiled. "Where's the creepy little mudblood?" he said curtly.

"You just kissed her," Hermione said. "I too, am a prefect, have never been in detention, and have the highest grade point average," she smiled as he began to scrub his lips violently.

All three of them burst out laughing as Draco pulled Crabbe and Goyle toward the Hall's doors. Professor McGonagall walked out and said, "Anyone who had an experience with the shadow on the train must step forward immediately." Harry's eyes opened. They all stepped forward.

"What's going on Professor?" Harry asked.

"That…shadow thing…we don't know what it is," she said apprehensively.

"Well, we saw it, but it didn't do anything," Ron said.

"Yes, that's what everyone has been saying. Very well, everyone, proceed into the dining hall." McGonagall said before briskly tunring on her heel and stepping into the hall.


	3. New Friends

Once all the students had entered the main hall, Dumbledore stood up and raised his arms to quiet every one down. "It has been called to my attention that a mysterious figure was seen on the Express Train this afternoon. To take precautions, we have reissued the rules that were in effect when the basilisk was still roaming around throughout the pipes. Which means; no one leaves the castle grounds alone, no one is to be out of their common rooms after 6 o'clock. These will be in effect until word is given otherwise. But, to get on with the lighter side of this feast, I would like to introduce our brand new DADA teacher, Miss Mila T. Evodrom." Dumbledore finished as he outstretched his hand towards the teachers table.

A young Asian woman stood up, with extremely long black hair and almond shaped eyes. Smiling, she waved. "It is such an honor to be here teaching at Hogwarts School. As your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, I will hopefully be the first in the past 5 years to stay more than one year. I cannot wait to meet you and see what kinds of gifted minds we have in this school." She said in a loud and cheerful voice before she sat down. Everyone burst out applauding.

"She seems very nice," Hermione said.

"And, boy, is she sexy," Harry muttered.

"Uh, Harry, you have a girlfriend, you know," Ron said angrily.

Harry began to blush as Ron and Hermione began to laugh uncontrollably. "LET THE FEAST BEGIN," Dumbledore shouted, as generous piles of food appeared on the tables.

Later that night, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Seamus, and Neville were sitting in the Gryffindor common room alone.

"Do you have any idea what that "thing" was?" Neville said shaken.

"Uh, we aren't sure Neville. If we knew, McGonagall and Dumbledore would know by know. But whatever it was, it was only stopping in certain quarters." Harry said.

"But…why?" Ginny asked suspiciously.

"Well, _The Quibbler_ has seen nothing like this before, so my father will be happy to have a shocking story on his hands now." Luna said cheerfully. But when no one gave pleased looks, the smile disintegrated off her face.

"Anyway, we should all be on high alert, at least until we find out what they want. As for me, I think I'll retire now," Hermione said as she stood up.

"Night," Ginny said before she stood up.

"It has been a great pleasure to ingest large quantities of sustainment in your company," Luna said before getting up.

Harry smiled before he burst out laughing, and then saw Ron smiling goofily at Hermione. Harry, still smiling, whacked Ron over the head. "What-oh thanks man," He said quietly. Harry shook his head. They then headed upstairs to their rooms.

The next morning, the three of hem had just left the common room and were headed to breakfast, when they realized that the staircases were backed up. "What's going on?" Ron asked angrily. "I want to go to breakfast," he whined.

"…The teacher's found something written in the hallway. It's from that creepy shadow creature. I'm Genevieve Alexander, Ravenclaw." She sad, putting out her hand for a shake. She had short brown hair, and wore stylish square glasses over her blue eyes.

"I'm Harry Potter, these are my friends Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger," he said shaking her hand.

She shook Ron and Hermione's hands, then said, "They are really freaking out, especially since this is kind of what happened with the Chamber, but they don't know who the shadow is." She said softly. Harry and Ron turned to Hermione when they heard 'chamber' but they saw she was already pushing her way through the crowds.

"What's wrong?" Genevieve asked.

"Hermione was one of the students who were petrified, but now we don't know where she's going," Harry said. Then the entire crowd dispersed toward the hall. When Harry and Ron walked forward with Genevieve, they saw Hermione staring at the wall. Eyes extremely wide, she turned toward them. She backed up against the staircase to brace herself. Ron went over and made sure she was alright.

"No longer will he be a burden. This school will finally be what it should have been. When the 4 are gone, he shall fall as well." Harry read the sharp black letters. He turned to Genevieve, but she shrugged. Harry shrugged then began walking to breakfast. Ron walked with them, with his hand on Hermione's shoulder. When they got in there, everyone was abuzz with gossip and fear

"The shadow is probably…"

"I think I know who he is!"

"Boy, even for a shadow, that was lame."

They walked to the open seats at the Gryffindor table, after waving to Genevieve.

"Don't you realize who "he" is?" Neville said.

"No, why, do you?" Harry said, cocking one of his eyebrows.

"It's Dumbledore! People don't think he's good enough to run this school. Once he's gone, people will be happy, especially Lucius Malfoy," Neville said quietly.

"You might be right there, Neville," Hermione said. She grabbed a muffin, and broke off a tiny piece.

Ron, who was shoveling eggs and bacon into his mouth as fast as possible, said, "I really don't care, as long I'm not sent home to mother," he said.

"Thanks for the great view Ron," Hermione said laughing.

Ron turned red. "Just kidding," she said softly. Then the bell rang, and they all rushed out.

"Well, we get to go to see Professor Evodrom." Harry said looking at his schedule. They then hurried to the corridor.

Once in the class, Professor Evodrom raised her wand, and all the windows shut, and the children's books flew onto one of the spare tables. "Well, welcome to 6th year Defense Against the Dark Arts. I am hoping all of you are excited about this class as I am. Now, I'm not one of those teachers who assigns seat by names. So, I'll let you pick your own seats two people at a table." She said. Everybody jumped up and began to switch seats. Harry looked over to where Ron was, but saw he was already sitting next to Hermione.

"Mind if I sit here?" someone said behind him. He turned and saw someone he had never seen before. It was a boy, much taller than him. He had messy blond hair, and clear green eyes.

"Sure," Harry said before sitting down.

"You're Harry Potter!" he said amazed.

"Yeah, I thought everyone knew that," he said laughing.

"Well, in the Slytherin house, especially with Malfoy, it's a sin to talk about you. Oh, by the way, I'm Jay, Jay Fredricks," he said shaking Harry's hand.

"Well, I have to say, I've never met a Slytherin as nice as you are," Harry said smiling.

"Okay, now, I will be assigning study partner, because I know how hard it is to study for all your classes. Your study partner will be whoever you're sitting next to," she said smiling. Harry saw Ron pump his fist into the air, and then Hermione blush. "So I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other than," Jay said.

"I guess so," Harry said smiling. They class was interrupted by a blood-curdling scream echoing throughout the entire school.


	4. Tryouts

Okay people. I am back for my reviewers. I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long. I just needed to update my TT story, and it ended up being over 3000 words longs, so, well you get it. Any way, here's my new chapter.

Everyone's heads perked up as the scream shattered the windows. Professor Evodrom ran out followed by Hermione, Ron, Harry and Jay. They saw the creepy shadow thing cornering Colin Creevy in the hall. Colin was standing there with an extremely frightened look on his small face. Professor Evodrom pulled out her wand, and she was about to shout out a spell, when the shadow dispersed into nothing. Professor McGonagall, who was next door, made sure Colin was all right before she brought him into her classroom.

Professor beckoned the four inside, before she slammed the door shut. She paced to the front of the room. "Nothing to fear, it was just a small incident. For homework, I would like an essay written about banshees, make it about a half of scroll long." She said before she dismissed them. Ron, Harry and Hermione walked out. "Hermione, Harry and I have Quidditch practice. Want to come?" Ron asked. Hermione thought for a moment before she nodded. They all walked out to the field. They stopped abruptly when they saw about 3 new faces. "Oh wait, I forgot that today is tryouts for Seekers and Beaters since George, Fred, and Angelina are gone. I guess they didn't want to keep the others. We have to stay. Do you still want to?" Ron said looking at Hermione.

Hermione shrugged. "Why not?" she said before she sat on a nearby bench. Ron and Harry ran onto the field. "For beaters, we have Ginny Weasley, Sean Haley and Steph Greeter. We don't have any one trying out for chaser, which means we need to find one," the captain said. (I don't know who it should be.) Ron nudged Harry. "What about…" he said before he cocked his head toward Hermione. "Are you crazy? Hermione? On a broom? Playing Quidditch? Honestly, you are delirious." He said not trying to laugh.

Ron grunted and then said, "Well, why not ask Hermione? I mean, she's right there," he said pointing to her. The captain shrugged and called. "GRANGER?! Want to try out? Worth a shot," he said as he pointed to a broomstick. Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Come on Hermione. No harm in trying." Ron called. Hermione shrugged again. She then jumped off the bench, and ran into the field. "Okay, let's give this a shot. Since it's tryouts, let's mix it up a little. Potter, play Keeper. Ron, come play Chaser with Granger and Greeter. Other Weasley and Haley, play Beaters, and I'll play Seeker. Ready…set…go!" he said as he mounted his broom quickly.

Ron shot up and caught the ball. He turned his head. "Hermione, catch!" he shouted as he threw the ball to the girl who closing into the goals. She caught it, teetered on her broom, and came to a stop right in front of Harry. Harry grinned smugly. "Don't throw it too hard Hermione!" he said before he erupted into laughter. She frowned, and then furrowed her brow as she hurled the ball at the rings. It sailed through. Harry turned his head toward her as his jaw dropped. "It-it went in!" she said happily. Ron flew over toward her to congratulate her. Harry grabbed the ball, and threw it back towards her. It whizzed past her head nearly hitting it. Because of the surprise, she flailed on the broom, and then tumbled off. Harry's hand flew to his mouth as Ron was darting on the broom. Her screams were echoing as she got closer to hitting the ground.

Ron quickly grasped her hand as she was two feet from the ground. He landed, and held on to her arms tightly to steady her. "Ron, you saved my life," she said as she collapsed in his arms limply. The captain (give me a name for him. I can't stand calling him…"him") ran over and looked over her. "Weasley, Potter, take her to the hospital wing. I think she passed out from being scared. The rest of you, try-outs are over. I've seen enough." He said before he walked off. Ron placed his arms under hers, and Harry grabbed her legs as they walked toward the other side of the school.

"You idiot! Why did you have to throw it so hard, and at her face?" Ron sneered. "I did not do it intentionally." Harry lied. "Yeah, you did. I saw the face when you did. You are just mad because she scored, and because she likes me more than she had ever liked you when you two were dating," Ron said angrily. "No, it's because…well, it's not that," Harry said defensively. "I can't believe you Harry. You're my best friend. And finally when a girl finally likes me, you can't be happy for me like I was for you when you were with Hermione, even though I seethed with jealousy. And I was there for you when Cho broke up with you. Harry, you have defeated the most evil wizard in the history of…forever, and yet you succumb to jealousy. I can't believe you," Ron said worked up. That walked into the room. Ron grabbed her legs from Harry's arms. Her head flopped onto his shoulder. He laid her on one of the beds.

Madame Pomfrey walked up flustered. "What happened?" she asked. "Hermione fell off her broom in Quidditch. I managed to reach her before she hit the ground, but she passed out," Ron said. Madame Pomfrey was all ready checking her out. Ron turned on his heel. As he walked out, he gave Harry a dirty look, and "accidentally" pushed him in the shoulder. Harry was pushed onto his butt. As he looked at a storming Ron, and an unconscious Hermione, he could tell that this was going to be a long year.

Later that evening in the Dining hall, Harry walked to his normal seat. He had been in his room since his little episode with Ron. It had been about 4 hours since then, and even though they were in the same dorm, Ron never said a word to Harry. Now, he was sitting with Dean, Ginny, Luna, and Seamus. Hermione walked up and sat across from Harry. She was kind of out of it, but she said hi. "Hi. You do know I didn't mean to make you fall off the broom, right?" Harry said. Hermione nodded. "I mean, I knew you meant to throw it really hard at me, but I know me falling off the broom was an accident." Hermione said. "Tell that to Ron," Harry muttered.

Hermione smiled then looked over at Ron. "Attention, your attention please," Dumbledore shouted. Everyone stopped talking, and then faced him. "To let you know in advance, I am telling that the teachers are planning a Halloween Ball. It will be a formal one, and we will be invited the schools we invited to the Goblet of fire competition. It will be held on the 31st, so we have told you," he said before he sat down. The school broke into happy chit chatter. The food appeared on the table, and everyone began eating. "Harry, are you planning on taking Ginny?" Hermione asked. "Oh I don't know. Do you think that Ron will ask Fleur Delacour?" Harry asked trying to move the attention off of him. Hermione heaved her shoulders as Ron came and sat next to her. "Ron, I'm so happy to see you," she said. "You saved my life, there's nothing I can ever do to repay you," she said happily. He grinned as his ears turned red. She glanced at her watch. "Oh my god, it's all ready 7. I still have homework to do," she said as she quickly jumped up and ran out. "Potter," Ron said. "Ron, knock it off. You are acting so like Malfoy, so just shove it," he said meanly.

"You know, I am so sick of you always being the star, being the one everyone adores, being the one that is always said to win the game for us in Quidditch. Well, you know what; those people can't see the real side of you. The selfish, mean, and sometimes bragging ways of the great Harry Potter. I'm just one of the lucky ones who can." He said before he slammed his fist onto the table and went to sit with the other crew he was with before. Harry placed his head into his hands. Someone knocked on his head. He looked up and saw Justin from Hufflepuff. "Hey, are you alright?" he said as he sat down as everyone started to clear out. "uh- my best friend is really mad about me hitting the girl he likes off her broom, he's jealous of me, he's mad at me, and the girl he likes is my ex-girlfriend." He moaned. Justin whistled softly.

"Well, I know that only you would be able to handle that kind of job." Justin said as he got up from the table. Harry smiled, and then pushed away from the table. He walked up to his room, hoping to see Ron. Ron was laying upside down in a chair with his eyes closed. "Weasley," he said softly. Ron opened one of his eyes. "I was just leaving," he said. "No wait," Harry said as he motioned for him to stay. Ron stopped, and said, "What?" "Ron, I'm sorry that I'm a show-off, and I'm sorry I kind of act like I am the only one who's good on Gryffindor Quidditch team. I am truly sorry," he said as he lowered his head. Ron raised one of his eyebrows, and rolled his eyes. He then stuck out his hand, offering a silent truce. Harry shook it, and smiled. "But I am still angry at you for knocking her off the broom." He said meanly.

The windows then began to open and close, causing loud _smacks_ to echo. The wind blew in forcefully, and the room grew icy. Howls came from no where. They ran to the window, and saw the black shadow fly in. It came through and flew out of the door.

Okay, I'm going to end it right there. Thanks to all who reviewed. I already have twenty reviews. Wow! I will update as soon as I finish my first TT story which I haven't updated in about a month and a half. Okay, so well, if that's that…then I'm gonna go. BYE  


	5. First to Go

Here I am again! BTW, I never got to thank those people who wished me a happy birthday. So…thanks! I have two announcements. You probably all ready know that the next Harry potter book comes out in June, but the 4th movie comes out in November. Anyway…lets get started! (Cracks knuckles and stares at screen for 3 hours) AH-HA! I have an idea! BYE!

Harry and Ron whipped their heads around when they saw it fly into the common room, and then out the door of the Gryffindor house. They ran after it, hoping to catch up with it, but it went through the ground over by the library, and they didn't see it again. "Guys? What are you doing?" a voice said from behind them.

They both turned around and saw Hermione and Genevieve. They were both staring at them with raised eyebrows.

"Uh…you didn't see the shadow come in?" Ron said. Both of them shook their heads.

"We had better alert the teachers," Genevieve said as she looked at Hermione, who nodded. But they stopped when they heard a loud scream that stopped abruptly.

"It's coming from that way," Harry said as he began to run. The others followed him quickly. They then found themselves in front of the Hufflepuff dorm. All the teachers and the Hufflepuff students were there.

"What happened?" Hermione said softly. She began to wring her hands nervously.

One of the kids turned toward her with tears on her face. It looked like it was a second year. "The shadow thing came in…and took Justin," she said between sobs.

Hermione covered her mouth. Harry's eyes bulged. Ron put his arm around Hermione, who was beginning to hyperventilate. Genevieve furrowed her brow in shock.

"The teachers are so shaken up, but they don't know how it managed to get in." the girl said shakily.

"We know. It came in through the Gryffindor common room window." Harry said, as he began to push through the people. "Professor McGonagall, I know how it got in," he said to the stern looking witch.

"Well, Mr. Potter, how? How did that horrible thing manage to come in and kidnap one of our students?" she said quickly.

"It flew in through the Gryffindor window. We were about to come and tell someone when we heard the scream. We then followed it here," Harry said.

Professor McGonagall nodded, and then turned away. "We need to alert Mr. and Mrs. Finch-Fletchley (is that the name? I'm not sure) right away. It seems like another Chamber of Secrets episode," she said quietly to Dumbledore. She then turned to the students. "All right, back to your common rooms immediately!" she said, shooing them along. The crowd finally dispersed, and Harry, Hermione, and Ron found themselves back in the common room alone.

"I'm-I'm so scared," Hermione said shakily.

"I can't blame you," Ron said looking at Harry.

"I think what we need is to get our minds off this subject," said Harry. Ron and Hermione then nodded.

"Harry, how's your relationship with Ginny going?" Hermione said interested.

Harry shook his head. "We broke up yesterday. Seems she had been going out with a Slytherin for about 2 weeks before it," Harry said kind of upset. Hermione gave him I'm-sorry look, and Ron cleared his throat. Harry then shrugged.

"Well, I think I'm going to turn in for the night. See you later," Harry said as he stood up. He then walked away, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ron take his seat on the couch next to Hermione. He shook his head, and then walked up the stairs.

A little while later, he realized he needed to ask Ron a question about Quidditch practice tomorrow. He walked down the stairs, only to hear that Ron and Hermione were still sitting there talking.

"Ron, I don't know what to do," she said softly.

"Hermione, we have to tell him," he said quietly.

"But Ron, I don't want to hurt him. I don't think you do either," She said.

"Hermione…it is only fair to all of us. If we don't tell him soon, he'll be angry we didn't tell him earlier." Ron said strongly.

Harry heard Hermione sigh. He moved his head so he could see part of them. Hermione had her head on Ron's shoulder, and he was stroking her hair. Harry's eyes opened widely as he gasped.

"We'll tell Harry tomorrow…I promise." Hermione said. She stood up slowly, and he followed. He wrapped his arms around her slowly. She smiled as he did as well.

Hermione was so happy. Ron had finally shown he liked her somewhat. The only reason why she had always been cold towards him was because he was never nice to her. **HE** was the one who said she was a know-it-all. **HE** was the one that said she had mental problems.

But…he was the one she always went to, over Harry. He was the one who was wanted to slug Malfoy when he said he hoped she would die. He was the one who comforted her when they watched Buckbeak get slaughtered before they went back in time. And yet somehow, she never realized he had truly liked her, and she had truly liked him.

She walked along slowly towards the lake. She always enjoyed sitting there to do her homework. But she stopped when she heard "GRANGER!"

She spun on her heel surprised. It was Katie Bell calling from the Quidditch field. She walked over confused. "Are you coming?" she said.

"Why?" Hermione said confused. That other day was a one time thing, and Hermione hadn't made the team either.

"Weasley and potter didn't tell you, did they?" Katie said annoyed.

Hermione shook her head.

"WEASLEY! POTTER!" Katie said with her jaw squared. The two boys walked up. She turned to face them. "So…my words aren't important…right? Being the captain of the Gryffindor team doesn't matter right?" she said looking at her nails.

They both looked down. Katie turned to Hermione. She tossed her the Quaffle. "Welcome to the team, Granger. You're one of our new Chasers." Hermione's eye bulged.

"But…why? When I played, I thought you just needed one for tryouts. And besides, I fell off my broom!" she exclaimed.

"No, it was an accident, and I made potter polish all the brooms and ball for it, including bludgers." Katie said angrily.

Harry looked up. "Yeah, and I've got the bruises to prove it." Harry said.

Katie smiled. "Good! Now, are you coming?" she asked again.

Hermione smiled, and then nodded. She couldn't believe what was happening to her.

Hermione had had so much fun playing Quidditch. They had practiced, and she had to admit, it was hard work, but she had fun. She even scored twice against Ron. She was looking to their first game...against Slytherin. She wasn't looking forward to seeing Malfoy. She was in her room playing with Crookshanks by herself, when she heard eruptions of laughter come from below her.

She walked downstairs to see what it was about. She walked down the stairs when she heard familiar voices. "Come on…just say it," someone shouted.

"I hate her so much. Like, I know that she likes me and everything, but she is so annoying. She was all 'Ron! Ron…I don't know what to do!" someone said before she heard more laughter. She felt like she couldn't breathe.

She then heard the same voice again. She began to yank on the string of her light blue sweatshirt. "It was fun while it lasted. But now…am I glad it's over. I even had to hug her!" he said. She couldn't believe she had fallen for it. She knew the voice. It was Ron.

She stepped out from behind the wall in front of the staircase. With tears in her eyes, she saw Seamus, Dean, Harry, Ron, and Neville. They didn't notice her, so she cleared her throat. All of them except Ron turned their heads slowly, and saw her. Ron then turned and saw her standing there, tears streaming down her face, as his smile disappeared quickly.

Well that's all for now folks! I know Hermione seemed a little out of character, and so did Ron, but I'm not that good of a writer, so I'm sorry. I hoped you liked the ending of it, but don't worry, things will change in the end. DUN DUN DUN! BYE!


	6. Hello Fleur

Here I am again! I can't believe I already have 42 reviews for this story! You guys rock! Whoever asked me about Harry being seeker, I made a typo. It was supposed to say chaser. Oh, and this chapter is going to move really quickly because I want to get to the main part soon. People will disappear in this chapter! Anyways, I think I'll start now!

HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP HP

"Uh oh," Neville said scared Hermione looked at them, heart-broken, and stormed up to her room.

Rom jumped out of his chair and ran up. Harry looked at them with a smug smile on his face.

"Hermione, wait! You don't know what truly happened," they heard Ron said. When Ron got into her room, she was laying on her bed, her face buried in her pillows. "Hermione, I didn't mean it that way."

She spun her head around. Her eyes were red and puffy. "Oh, so which way did you mean it Ron? How could you not mean it that way!" she said angrily.

"You don't understand. Harry threatened me. Harry doesn't like it that we really like each other. So, he told me to say that in front of them. If I refused, he'd tell you that I said it. I figured it would be better if I said it there, then if you heard it really. I would never, ever say that," Ron said as he looked down at his hands.

She pulled her head out of the pillows again. "Do-do you actually mean that? But…why would Harry make you say that?" she questioned quietly.

"I told you. Harry's jealous of us. He misses being your boyfriend, so he doesn't want you and me to work out. And yes, I truly meant it. Hermione, I…" He said before he was interrupted.

"Ron! Hermione! Get down here!" someone called from below them. They looked at each other alertly. Ron helped Hermione up, and they sped downstairs. Harry was waiting for them.

"Professor Snape just came in and told us that the shadow had attacked again, and that we weren't allowed to come out of our rooms." He said.

"We need to see who it managed to get this time," Ron said as he headed for the door. When they opened it, they saw Hagrid walking by. "Hagrid! What's going on?" Ron shouted.

Hagrid turned around confused. "You three best be getting back into your room now," he said as he began to turn around again.

"Hagrid, we promise we will. Just tell us who it managed to get," Hermione begged.

Hagrid looked like he wasn't at ease. "It got a Ravenclaw. The girl's name is Genevieve Alexander." He said before he walked away again.

"It's getting all these people we know. Why?" Hermione said shakily.

Ron looked around, but you could tell he was scared as well. "There has to be something in common with all of them." He said.

They all nodded nervous, and decided it would be best if they went to bed.

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The three friends walked down to the Grand (or is it Great) hall to see it with many more people then it usually had.

"Those other schools must be here for that dance next week," Hermione said. They all groaned. They found an open seat and began to eat breakfast. Ron was in the middle of shoving a chocolate donut into his mouth when someone tapped on his shoulder. He turned…and saw none other than Fleur Delacour.

"Ronald!" she said happily. Ron's eyes opened widely, while Hermione's turned green with jealousy.

"Hi Fleur," Ron managed to choke out.

"Ronald, you have become much more…how do you say it….sexy!" she said, placing an elegant finger on her porcelain colored face.

Ron turned bright red. "Well-erm- thank you?" he said, somewhat asking her.

"Dear Ronald, I would be pleased if you would accompany me to the Halloween ball next Friday." She said as she smiled.

Ron looked like his head was about to explode. He turned to Harry, who smiled, hoping he would say yes so Harry could take Hermione. Ron then turned to Hermione who was pushing something back and forth on her plate. He frowned. He turned to Fleur, who was still smiling as she began to push her white-blond hair out of her face.

"Fleur, I would like to thank you for the invitation, but I'm going to have to decline. I already have a date," Ron said as he looked at Hermione, who was gaping at his surprised.

Fleur looked like she was about to have a temper tantrum. "But, my dear friend Harry has no date." He said, hoping to get Harry a date.

Fleur groaned. "Harry vas the one who paid me to ask you," she said before she stomped off.

Ron angrily turned to Harry. "YOU PAID HER TO ASK ME! I CAN"T BELIEVE YOU!" he said before he jumped up from the table.

Hermione looked at Harry with a sad yet shocked look on her face. "Harry, why?" she said softly before she stood up. She quickly followed Ron.

OH NO! OH NO! OH NO! OH NO! OH NO! OH NO! OH NO! OH NO! OH NO!

Harry walked slowly to DADA. He took he seat next to Jay. "Somethin' wrong?" Jay asked.

"Friend problems," Harry muttered. Jay smiled empathetically. Harry pulled out his essay on vampires, then placed his head in his hands

Professor Evodrom walked in looking frazzled, and then pulled down a screen. "Professor, what's wrong?" Harry heard someone say.

"I have to go to an emergency teachers meeting, so you will be watching a filmstrip on vampires instead of sharing your essays. Sorry." She said as she rushed out of the room.

Harry raised his eyebrows. He looked over at Hermione and Ron, who were just as confused.

About halfway through the movie, it got very cold in the room. Then, the lights began to flicker, and the windows slammed shut.

Everyone looked around worried. "Something's wrong," Harry said as he stood up. He then saw something dark moving around by one of the walls. He walked over, and placed his hand near it. He fetl himself growing very cold, and very tired. He backed away before he fell over. The thing then erupted off the wall.

"It's the shadow!" someone yelled. Harry whipped out his wand, but it wouldn't stay still in his hands because they were shaking so much.

He watched it fly around the room, knowing it was going to land soon. He saw it then encircle Jay. His eyes opened widely, and tried to move, but it seemed as if his feet were glued down. Jay was then gone, and the entire class was in shock.

I think I'm gonna end it there. I hope you like it, and to tell you, I have all ready started to work on the next chapter, which probably is the most important one. If that's that, BYE!


	7. Lies

Hi! I wanted to update now because this is the only story I haven't updated in a while. This is probably going to be the most important chapter in the entire story. But, it might be a little corny, because I stink at writing sappy moments, and I have to put one in thi8s chapter. In any case, here's chapter 7.

Harry stared at the stop where Jay had just sat. Professor Evodrom came in with Hermione. "What's going on?" she said scared.

"The shadow thing was hiding in the classroom, so after a little while, it attacked Jay and kidnapped him." Harry said walking toward her.

She gasped. She then regained her composure, and said, "I need to go tell the teachers. All of you had best report back to your dormitories now," she said before she walked out quickly.

The students looked at each other, and they obeyed her order, filing out of the room, and going to their common rooms.

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Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat on the couches in the Gryffindor common room.

"We have to find out why the shadow has taken them and only them." Harry said quietly.

"But how, I mean, the only way we could, would to look- no Harry, you can't," Hermione said in shock.

Ron looked at them very confused. "Hermione, we have to. We're going to look in the personal records," he said with a devious look in his eyes.

Ron raised his eyebrows as Hermione sighed. Harry then dashed upstairs and brought out his invisibility cloak.

"Ron and I will go, you stay here." Harry said to Hermione.

"No, if you guys get in trouble, I might as well too. I gave you the idea." She said standing up.

Ron and Harry looked at her with gaping eyes, and wide open mouths. "Who are you, and what have you done with Hermione?" Ron said amazed.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and gave him a light punch. They all got under the cloak. They walked out and into the hallway.

OOH! OOH! OOH! OOH! OOH! OOH! OOH! OOH! OHH! OOH! OOH! OOH! OOH!

They walked into the restricted area of the library where the records were kept. Once they were in the least seen area of the gloomy library, they whipped off the cloak, and went digging through the files. They went into the separate drawers, looking for Finch-Fletchley, Alexander, and Fredricks.

Ron first found Justin's. "Justin Anthony Finch-Fletchley. Born June 18th 1986. Parents are Eliza and Jeremie. Father's a muggle, while the mother's a witch. That's all it says," he said with a frown, and he placed the file back in the drawer.

Harry pulled out Jay's. "Jay Nathaniel Fredricks. Born on July 19th, 1987. His mother is Michaela and father is Reagan. Father's a wizard, mother's human." He said before he dropped it back in.

"I've got Genevieve's," Hermione said as she pulled it out and began to read it. "Her name is Genevieve Morgan Alexander. Birthday is January 16th 1987. Parents are Christina, and Trevor. Both of the parents are human-" Hermione dropped the folder, and a surprised look came on to her face. Her hands began to shake.

"I know why the shadow picked them." She said quietly.

Harry and Ron looked at her worried. "Why?" they said softly, hoping she'd come out of her crazy-like state.

She looked up at them, her eyes empty. "All of them. They all have at least one muggle parent. You do know what that means?" she said, angry now.

"Hermione, hold on, that doesn't mean anything." Ron said, trying to calm her down.

"And you know what else is a coincidence?" she said to them. "All of them are from every house- except Gryffindor, and, they're all in their 6th year. Let me ask you one thing. Who, from Gryffindor, is a muggle0born, and in their sixth year?" she said, practically screaming.

They wouldn't look at her. "Me," she said softly. She then buried her face in her hands, and began to cry.

"Hermione, you never know if there's another muggle-born in our grade in our house," Harry said as he began to dig through the files.

"I wonder if the birthdays have anything to do with it," Ron said. "I mean, they all begin with "j" and the numbers are almost consecutive."

"Here's another one. His name is Steven Drake. He's from Gryffindor. His birthday is July 17th 1987, and his mother's a muggle. Hermione, when's your birthday?"

She looked up at him. "May 7th," she said almost inaudibly.

"See, it can't be you. The months begin with "j" and the numbers are consecutive. Your birthday doesn't fit." Harry said as he picked up the cloak, and wrapped it around them again. They then headed back to the house, with confident faces, but with nervous minds.

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Ron and Harry sat on their beds the night before the big dance. Ron was going with Hermione, and Harry talked Fleur into going out with him. They then began talking to each other.

"Who is this Steven Drake dude, I've never heard of him," Ron said as he laid back against the pillows.

"Uh- I have a confession to make. I made him up. There is no Steven Drake. I just pulled out Neville's file, and made it up to clam Hermione down. But, there still might be another muggle." Harry said softly.

Ron looked at him with a worried look on his face before he turned out the light.

In Hermione's room, she sat on her bed with her legs pulled up close to her. "Oh, what am I going to do? I don't even want to think about what would happen if I told Harry and Ron that I lied about my birthday." She said scared.

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That morning at lunch, everyone was so excited about the dance later that night. Everyone was talking about the special "ceremony" that Professor McGonagall let slip out one day. Supposedly, there was some award that the teachers were planning.

To someone, though, the award and the dance wasn't even in their thoughts. And that person was Hermione Granger. She nervously bit at her nails, as Ron and Harry stared at her very concerned.

"Hermione, you're sure you're okay?" Harry said with a troubled glance. Hermione stopped spacing out, and nodded.

She then stood up, muttered something about going to her room, and walked away.

"Something's wrong," Ron said. Harry quickly agreed. Ron then got up, and ran after her.

When he caught up to her, He grabbed her shoulder. "Hermione, what's wrong?" he said.

She turned around. "Nothing, why?" she lied.

"Hermione, I know you better than anyone. I know something's wrong," he said.

She took a deep breath. "Why is everyone making such a big deal about me just in a bad mood?" she said before she ran off to her room.

"You're not getting away that easy," Ron said as he ran after her again.

Hermione bolted up the stairs, but hid in her closet when she heard Ron coming toward the room. She began to catch her breath, as she heard Ron step into her room. She tried to be very quiet. She held her breath until she heard him leave.

She then let it out, and flopped onto her bed. She laid back, and looked at a picture on her nightstand.

Colin Creevy had taken it of her, Ron, and Harry three years ago, right after Sirius managed to escape the dementors on Buckbeak. They all looked so happy, unlike how she was feeling now. She blew her hair out of her face, and turned over.

"What am I going to do?" she thought to herself, before she ended up falling asleep.

When she finally woke up, it was 5:30, an hour before the dance begun. She sat up, and realized she needed to get dressed quickly.

About forty five minutes later, she walked down the stairs in her pale purple shimmery robes and toward the Great Hall. There were many other people going that way as well. When she arrived, the Hall was decorated magnificently. Glittery black streamers hung down in front of the doorway, and orange ones were hanging all around the room.

She stepped in, and saw that people were all ready there, including Harry and Ron. She was going to try to avoid them, because she didn't want them to see her. If they did, they go all overdramatic about her mood.

Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were looking for her. "Do you see her?" Harry said. Ron shook his head, then stopped.

"Yeah, she's trying to hide," he said as he saw her slumping down in a chair.

He walked over to her. "Nice try," he said softly.

She groaned, and stood up, and walked away quickly.

He followed close behind her. She turned around, and saw him following her, so she decided to try the one place he couldn't follow her into.

Ron cursed to himself as he saw her go into the girls' bathroom. He looked around, and after seeing no one around, he walked into the bathroom. Hermione was leaning against a sink. "What?" she said shortly.

"Hermione, you're being so…unsocial," he said, not wanting to make her even more upset.

"Why does it matter to you?" she said.

"Because, I'm your friend, and I really care about you," he said as he walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ron, I'm-I'm losing my mind," she said softly.

He looked at her strangely. "Why?"

"I'm so scared. I-I lied to you and Harry," she said, not making eye contact with them.

"What?" Ron said as he moved his hand, and lifted her face up. "What did you lie about? I don't get what you're saying."

"My birthday isn't May 7th, it's July 17th. Everything fits." She said.

"How do you know? It's either you, or Steven Drake," Ron said, hoping she'd still buy it.

I don't care. Now, I'm going back to my room." She said, before she walked out.

"Why are you doing this? Why?" Ron asked her.

"Because, how would you feel if you knew that you are about to be kidnapped by a horrible shadow that only wants muggle-born?" she said.

"I would feel upset, but I wouldn't shut out my friends like you are," he said.

She turned to him. "Ron, this is hard enough for me, but I don't want you or Harry to get hurt. That's why I shut you out," she said sadly before she walked out. He followed her, and turned her around until she faced him.

"What?" she said before he placed a finger over her lips. He then brought her face toward his. Their lips then met.

Once they stopped, she looked at him with much happier eyes then she had before. He smiled. She took a step back.

She then froze. "Is-is it cold in here, or is it just me?" she asked.

Ron looked at her oddly. "No, it's fine in here," he said. She then stumbled backwards. He grabbed her before she fell over. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"I just started to feel cold, and tired." She said confused.

He looked at her concerned, but he stopped as soon as he saw something move behind her. "Stay here," he said. He then walked over to where in had been before. He looked back at Hermione, who had placed her hand on her head, and looked at him.

She looked very weak. Ron raised his eyebrows as soon as she fell to her knees. He ran over and grabbed her before she fully fell onto the ground.

"I-I don't know what's happening," she said.

Ron looked around the hall, and saw this "fog" darting around the room.

He gently placed her onto the ground, and stood up. He then saw it stop in corner. He walked toward it. He reached his hand into it. It quickly moved. He turned to where it had gone; right towards Hermione. He froze still.

She stood up, and saw it heading right for her. It was about to hit, when Ron shoved her out of the way. They both tumbled across the floor. They looked up and saw that it as still at it.

It took a longer part of it, and pushed Ron out of the way. He flew against a wall. When he looked up, he saw that it had encircled Hermione. He got up, and ran towards her. It began to pull her. He grabbed onto one of her hands, trying to get her out.

"Ron…don't leave me," she said weakly before her hand went limp in unconsciousness, and her head fell. Ron's grip was starting to weaken, and soon, she was gone. Ron stopped dead. He hadn't been able to protect her, and now, she was gone.

I'm going to stop right now. I hope you enjoyed it, because I enjoyed writing this chapter, which happens to be my longest chapter of this story. I thought the end was probably my best sappy ending in any of my stories, and yet, it was very dramatic. Anyways, I hope you liked it, and if you did, gimme some feedback. Push that little purple button about and send me a review (hopefully nice).


	8. Tricks, Sleazes, and Heartbreak

I'm back once again, my people. I needed to update all my other stories, and then I ended up creating another one. Plus, I wanted to leave you hanging wondering what will happen to Hermione. Hah, I'm so bad. Anyway, I'm updating now, so no need to fret any longer.

Ron stared at the spot where Hermione had stood before, hoping that he'd wake up from this horrible nightmare. But he never did, and he realized that this was real. He then walked back into the Hall, and found Harry. He was making out with Fleur. (I love making Harry look like a dirty pig.)

Ron grabbed Harry and pulled him away from the half veela girl. "Look, I'm sorry to interrupt you looking like a total sleaze in front of everyone, but we need to leave now," Ron said dragging him out of the room.

Harry hit Ron on the shoulder. "Why? Where's Hermione, and what the heck's your problem?" Harry said staring Ron in the eyes.

Ron frowned. "Hermione was kidnapped by the shadow about five minutes ago. We're leaving because we are going to find her, and find her now."

Harry gasped. "But, how? We have absolutely no idea where she went."

Ron rolled his eyes at Harry's lame comment. "Not knowing where something is has never stopped you before. Besides, I think they are still in this school, which is why we are going to use the Marauder's Map of yours to find her. Let's go," Ron said impatiently as he began to drag Harry again.

Soon after, they got out of their dress robes. Harry was rummaging through his desk drawers while Ron wrung his hands out of nervousness. "I know you probably don't want to know this right now, but you know that award that one of the teachers mentioned the other day? It was Cutest Couple, and you and Hermione won it," Harry said as he pulled out the paper.

Ron grumbled, "Like that matters now?"

Harry grabbed his wand, and placed it on the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He removed the wand, and gently unfolded it.

He looked at it, and saw most of the names were grouped in the Hall. Then, there was theirs, but there was one other cluster.

"Look at this. This has, what, five names?" Harry said not looking up from the paper.

Ron then asked, "Who are they?" He looked at the paper, then froze stiff. "Bloody hell, look at the names. It's Justin, Genevieve, Jay, and Hermione. But…but the other one is-Professor Evodrom?" Ron looked at Harry with a confused look on his face.

Harry thought for a while. "No…way," Harry thought. "There's no possible way that it could be, or could there?" he said softly.

Ron stared at him. "Are you mad? What the heck are you talking about, Harry?"

"You know how when your sister was controlled by that diary? Well, Voldemort befriended me by using an anagram. I don't think Mila T. Evodrom really exists. Did you ever notice she suddenly popped out of nowhere? Did you even see her on the train? Listen, if you take Mila T. Evodrom and rearrange it, it becomes…**_I am Voldemort_**." Harry finished.

Ron gawked at him. "How do you come up with these things off the top of your head so quickly?"

Harry shrugged. "Now, they seem to be located in a secret corridor on the third floor. If we're going to do, we have to do it tonight," he said aggressively. Ron nodded, and soon, they were off.

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Harry and Ron creaked up the stairs slowly, hoping not to make too much noise. "Man, this is so creepy," Ron squeaked out.

Harry shushed him, and kept moving along slowly. "I don't think anyone ever been here in a very, very long time," he said to himself.

They then came upon a large old-fashioned door. It had intricate designs covering the entire thing. It was also covered in a lot of spider webs. Ron wouldn't even go near the door. Harry sighed, but he opened it.

They walked in. It was what looked like an extremely long hall. The ceiling dripped dirty water as the stepped in the puddles of it. Harry looked around, then looked at the Marauder's Map. "According to the map, we're very close. They should be around- wait a minute," he said as he stopped abruptly.

Ron gave him a strange look. "What is it?" he said quietly.

Harry pointed down at the map. "Hermione…she's no longer with them. It-it says that she's right behind us," Harry said as he looked at Ron.

Ron cocked his eyebrow. He and Harry turned around very slowly, feeling the presence of someone else in the room. They turned and saw Professor Evodrom staring back at them with a smile on her face.

She pulled out her wand, and held it above her head. Long mist shot out of it and encircled her. She soon transformed into the evil wizard that had killed so many people in his day.

Harry face contorted into an angry one. "Voldemort, you bastard, where is she?"

Voldemort gave him a mean smile. "By whatever would you mean?" he said.

"You know what he's talking about," Ron yelled. "Why do you need them?" he said.

Voldemort shook his head. "Did you ever think about the message I left you? People think that it meant Dumbledore, but were they wrong. The message clearly said 'No longer will he be a burden. This school will finally be what it should have been. When the 4 are gone, he shall fall as well.' Well, no one thought that this "he" was none other than Harry Potter himself. You're a burden, this school should never have sent you an acceptance letter, and all four of these people are your friends. Those are your only weaknesses; your friends."

Harry opened his eyes widely. "But-but why? Why is it that they are my weaknesses?" he thought to himself.

"I also need them because I need a new body of my own, and it has to be at least half-muggle since I too have a muggle mother. You see, I've been using this young woman's for a while. But I have grown bored, and I want a young one. So, I have to take a young muggle born. For the spell to really work, I need the one with the purest soul. So, I took one from every house. And I have found the purest one. Get ready harry, for I shall now reside within your friend's body." He said as he backed up to show them Hermione lying on the ground limply. Her robe was now above her knees, and one sleeve had been torn off. Her hair was spread out on the ground.

Ron looked at Voldemort angrily. Voldemort smiled, and placed his wand above his head again. He turned into the mist this time, and flew into the young girl's body as "Professor Evodrom"'s body fell to the ground with a thud.

Harry swallowed. This…was going to be very hard.

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I'm going to end now. I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while before this, but I got really sidetracked from anything to do with Fan Fiction. But, the new chapter is right here, and I'm done finally writing this chapter. And, if you want another chapter soon, I must tell you to review immediately. **_REVIEW!_**


	9. Empty Partnerships

Well, it's been over a month since I updated because I was so into updating my TT story, so I never updated. As of now, I'm up to 62 reviews for the story, which is really good. For the last chapter though, I only got 6, which was kind of disappointing, because that's where a lot of stuff happened. Oh well, I guess I shouldn't be complaining, because at least I have reviews. Oh, TomsGirl07, that was so much better than my chapter. I'd use it, but I hate going through the whole replacement chapter thing. One of my many traits; laziness.

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The possessed Hermione sauntered over with an evil smile on her face.

"Who should I murder first? Should I kill the infamous Harry Potter, or maybe make him watch me mangle his best friend?" she said. Her voice seemed like it was infused with Voldemort's evil one. She turned her head, and looked at Ron.

She then turned her entire body. She walked over toward Ron. "Do you know what I hate?" She said softly.

"Uh-uh, no?" Ron said nervously.

Hermione wrapped her hand around his neck, and pushed him into the wall. "I hate boys who realize that they like someone only until the person they like make a big change," she said, jaw square.

"Do you know how long I waited for this to happen?" Hermione said.

Ron looked into her eyes as his welled with tears. He felt like his heart was breaking. Not only was he going to end up dying at the hands of the only girl he had ever loved, but he had also not confessed his soon enough.

He tried to say something, but he couldn't breathe. Hermione smiled evilly. Then she heard a loud voice yell behind her "BOMBARDO!" A large blast of power shot out of Harry's wand, and straight into her back. Her grip soon released somewhat on Ron's neck as he began to feel himself lose feeling in his feet. Then her hand dropped altogether, as she fell to the ground. Harry ran over to where Ron sat on the ground.

Harry helped him up. "Are you okay?" Harry said.

Ron nodded, his hand caressing his sore neck. He felt bruises starting to form on it. "Ron, there's something I need to say. Lately, I don't know what's come over me. I've been acting a lot different with the Quidditch episode, paying Fleur to ask you, or even making out with her. I've been acting like a jerk, and I'm sorry," Harry said.

Ron shrugged, "Hey, I can't be that mad, especially after that whole thing during the Goblet of Fire thing. Now, what are we going to do about Hermione?" Ron said.

0-0-0-0-0-

Meanwhile, the true Hermione was trapped in her own mind. She lay in a small area filled with a thick black fog. Her wrists were bolted to the ground, as was her waist. She looked around, trying to free herself, but she then fell back in frustration, as she only had caused large cuts to form on her wrists. She then saw him. It was Voldemort. His long black cloak covered his lanky body. What looked like an icy mist seemed to be coming from his under his hood. He walked over and bent down next to her.

She began to cower away from him. She didn't want to, but just seemed like her body wouldn't listen to her.

"Hello…miss Granger." A sickening voice seethed out, making Hermione shiver. "Comfortable?" he asked.

Hermione just glared at him. She would never, ever speak to this…thing. He didn't deserve to be called a human being.

He stood up slowly. "You know, we have a lot in common," he said, circling her. "We both come from at least one muggle parent, we're always considered the smart one, and lastly… we both hate Harry Potter."

Hermione looked at him strangely. "I don't hate Harry. We both disagree a lot, that's all."

"Poor, poor girl. Think about it, my dear. Who is the one always causing havoc in your life? He threw that ball at you on purpose. He wanted you to fall and die. You know why? He's threatened by you. He knows you're better than him, and he wouldn't let you just break up with him like that. Who was the one who tried to break you and Mr. Weasley up? He thought you weren't good enough for his best friend, so he tried to get rid of you. Believe me, I know how it feels. He's almost gotten you killed so many times. Remember the time with the prophecy and you were hit with that painful charm. Mr. Potter could have deflected it. He could have helped you. But, no, he let you be in all that pain while he got the glory for almost defeating me. (Okay, I know that never happened. But, I just want to make it look like Harry's awful to help the next few parts. So, just roll with me.)

Hermione stared up at him. She was dazed. He- he was right, ads much as she wanted to disagree. She then saw him pull out his wand. An airy pale purple vapor shot out and floated onto Hermione.

She felt herself suddenly stop short. All she could think about was how right he was.

"You-you're right. I don't know how I didn't see this before," she said softly.

He nodded. "It's all right, dear. You can change it. All you have to do is join me. Together, we can destroy him. We can stop him from hurting us anymore. He won't be able to hurt anyone anymore."

She nodded, like a child obeying their parent. "Together, we could do anything. We could rule over this entire world, and no one would be able to stop us, especially not the notorious Harry Potter. Although, we'll have to take down all the people in here, to top them from talking, including Weasley…" he said before he drifted off.

Hermione listened, but as soon as he mentioned Ron, she snapped out of it. "I'll never help you. You're just using me. You'd never come into a partnership. You're just some psycho wanting me to not put up a fight when you try to kill me. Yeah right, no way buddy." She said.

"Suit yourself. I think it's time for me to finish what I started before," he said before he turned on his heel, and quickly stepped out.

Hermione swore to herself as she struggled with the metallic bonds restraining her. She had to get out of here, or at least try.

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The two boys stood over her, pondering over what they should do. They then jumped back as Hermione opened her eyes. She stood up. "I've had enough," a cold voice said.

"I'm thinking this that Voldemort took total control," Harry said as he started to back up.

Ron looked at him nervously, and then looked back at Hermione. Her hair was blowing upwards. Her eyes seemed to have fires erupting within them.

She then lunged at Ron, tackling him to the ground. She then once again wrapped her hands around his neck, tighter than before.

Ron looked up at her. She had a sickening grin on her face.

"Hermione, where is she?" he said with violent gasps between them.

Hermione, the true one, heard this. It was Ron, and she could sense he was in trouble. She couldn't just lay there. She then screamed as loud as she could.

The scream erupted from "Hermione's" mouth. Ron stared up at her. Hermione was inside of herself.

"Bloody hell, this is so confusing," he wheezed.

"Hermione" cringed, and then blinked a lot. Ron looked into her eyes. The fires weren't there.

She looked down. She then released her hands and stood up. "Ron…I'm sorry." She said.

Voldemort then took control again. "Shut up, you bitch." He backed away. "THIS ENDS NOW!" he shouted

0-0-0-0-0-

Hermione heard this, and the anger rose up with her. She couldn't let him do this, especially using her like a puppet. She had this strange feeling in her as she began to struggle with the wrist bars.

She then grunted as she pushed against them as hard as she could. There was a horrible creak, and they both popped off.

She then palmed the ground, and pulled herself backwards. Her legs swiftly pulled out of the bars. The tingly sensation filled her body as she got up and ran as fast as she could to where Voldemort had gone before.

She found him doing what looked like fighting with air. "Duh, that must be what I'm doing. She walked up, and saw what looked like a movie screen. She was fighting Harry.

"Where's Ron?" she thought to herself, scared out of her wits. She then saw him. He lay on his side unconscious. Both sleeves of the shirt he was wearing had been ripped off showing the various cuts and bruises that decorated his arms. His robe was totally torn and tattered.

"What have I done? This is all my fault," she said trembling. She crouched over.

This mess, everything that happened to Jay, Justin and Genevieve was her fault. Everything that happened to Harry was her fault. But the worst part was if she had killed Ron, it was her fault as well.

Her emotions became too overwhelming. She opened her mouth, and screamed, "NO!" She then ran toward Voldemort…

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Harry was fighting Hermione when she just stopped and screamed, "NO!" Harry saw that Ron had sat up out of the corner of his eye. He took this chance and went over. He draped Ron's arms around his neck, and pulled him to his feet.

Ron looked up and saw Hermione screaming as she held her arms out. Her head was thrown back, and her eyes were shut tight.

She then stopped. Her head dropped and she looked at them. She moaned as her eyes rolled into her head and she fell to the ground with a thud.

0-0-0-0-0-

How was that? Now, you may be confused about some things.

First of all, the spell Voldemort used on Hermione was only to make her totally agree with him.

Secondly, I didn't put what Hermione did Voldemort. I didn't know what to put, so I'll just leave that to your imagination.

Okay. I hope you enjoyed it. I spent a lot of time writing this, so please review. It's like my paycheck for writing this. Later!


	10. Worry

Wow. Long time no write. Okay, so when I read the sixth Harry Potter and finished, I almost screamed in happiness. I couldn't believe that she had actually put Ron and Hermione together. I thought that it was going to be something stupid like Harry and Hermione, but I think Harry and Ginny is cute too.

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Ron watched in shock as she collapsed onto the ground. He looked at Harry, who had a look of horror on his face. When she was on the ground, the two ran over. Ron kneeled down and placed her head on his knees.

He looked over at Harry, who he could tell was starting to panic. "Harry, you need to go and tell someone and get help. I'll stay here," Ron said.

"Why do we need help?" Harry asked.

"Harry, you and I can't carry Hermione, the witch Voldemort possessed, Genevieve, Jay and Justin. We need some of the teachers," Ron said.

Harry nodded and ran. Ron knew he had to get the other three. He lifted Hermione up and placed her over by the young woman. He then ran in the direction he remembered seeing their names on the map. Luckily, he had remembered correctly, and he found them. He Justin's hand and dragged him because he was too heavy to pick up. Ron found out the Jay was also to heavy. Lastly, he threw Genevieve over his shoulder and walked back to the entrance area.

He knew Harry wouldn't be back for a little while, so he paced back and forth worriedly thinking. But what he hadn't thought of was that Voldemort was actually still in the area. He figured this out when he was thrown backwards by a large shadow.

When he opened his eyes, a black cloak was floating. "You," Ron spat, standing up.

Voldemort shook his head, with a mixture of pity and laughter. "Yes…me," he said to Ron.

Ron pulled out his wand, but Voldemort pulled out his faster. A large ray of energy knocked it out of Ron's hand and backward. Ron felt his insides tie themselves into knots as he heard it hit the floor.

Ron stared back at him nervously. Ron could sense that Voldemort was smiling under that hood.

"I would presume that you happen to be a Weasley, due to your hair. You're the brother of the girl that helped me petrify the students," he hissed.

Ron just stared at him. He still couldn't believe that he had sunk so low to use a first- year to do his dirty work. "Funny thing is that two of those people have been petrified," he said, pointing to the others, meaning Justin and Hermione.

"Since there's no way I can get out before Potter returns with the teachers, I'll have to reside within someone. And this someone will have to kill everyone because we can't let the teachers know what actually happened down here, could we? And once that's over, I'll be close to Potter and Dumbledore, making it even easier to end them," Voldemort said, making his way towards Ron.

Ron's eyes bulged, knowing that Voldemort meant him. "I – I won't let you," Ron said, although he doubted himself very much.

"My boy, you no longer have any control over the matter. That is, after I kill you first," he said, positioning his wand correctly.

Ron began to know that this was the end. But then he heard someone say quietly, "Don't even think about it.

Ron knew that wasn't Harry or any of the teachers. Voldemort had heard it too. He and Ron both looked at where they had heard it. It was Hermione, pulling herself to her feet.

Voldemort turned back to Ron and said, "Excuse me for a moment." When he did, Hermione caught his eye and mouthed "Wand".

Ron nodded as Voldemort turned around. He ran and grabbed his wand. He then ran back as he heard Voldemort talking to Hermione.

"Why must you always ruin my plans? I was going to take over you and kill potter, but when that didn't work, I was going to use him. Oh well, I'll kill both of you and pick which one I want," Voldemort said shrugging.

"Touch her and you die," Ron said aiming his wand at Voldemort. He didn't want to shoot because he knew if it didn't work or if he missed, it was the end of both of them. Hermione didn't have the strength to.

Voldemort just floated there, but he seemed to tense up immensely when he heard voices coming from the frontal area of the small area. "They're this way," someone shouted faintly.

Voldemort knew he had to act now, so he sent a green wave into Hermione's chest causing her to fall backwards and turned to Ron. "This is the end for you," he said with a smile. "_…Avada Kedarva_," he said as a red stream of light came out of his wand and buried itself into Ron's chest. Ron felt enormous amounts of pain spread through his body as he fell onto the ground weakly. As he did, he saw Harry run up with the teachers. Voldemort then disapparated and was gone. Ron thought to himself, "You had the chance and you failed. You deserve this."

Harry ran over to where Ron laid as did McGonagall and Dumbledore. Ron wanted to say something, but he couldn't. He began to feel tired, so he closed his eyes causing everything around him to become black.

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Ooooo. My god, I can't believe I wrote that. That- it- there's no words that can explain that. Ack, I just can't believe it. It's actually giving me the shivers, but at the same time, making me want to cry. Oh well, tell me what you thought about it, but please don't yell for what I did.


	11. Vortex

This is it. My final installment. I know that I'm just going to drop off right here, and I'm really sorry about that. But, I can't think of a way to end this, so I'm just going to end it like this. I have read this over once, and I need to warn you that this chapter is somewhat dark. I'm not going to tell you why, although you all ready know why. It has been my pleasure writing for you, and I hope you'll read my stories in the future.

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It had all happened so quickly, no one could believe. That was the year that more deaths had happened at Hogwarts than it had in over a thousand years. After the extremely large funeral, the year flew by.

Ron was the first one pronounced dead. As soon as Voldemort flew out of the place, Dumbledore took one glance at him, and knew that the young boy was gone. When Harry heard this, his whole body flew into shock.

The next day, Madame Pomfrey realized that the trauma the four muggle born students had endured was extremely draining. Justin was the first to go. He was assumed to have died the next night.

When Harry realized that Justin had also died, the amount of pain grew even worse. He had lost his best friend, and a person who had knew very well.

It was about a week later that Genevieve let go. Harry hadn't known her well, but he knew Hermione had, and he knew Hermione would be extremely upset.

Jay, Hermione and the young witch, who was discovered that her name was Alyssa Monroe lay in a deep coma for about two week uninterrupted.

It was assumed that the amount of time they world lay there could range from one day to over a year. Harry was numb the whole time.

Harry was curious, so he did some research on Alyssa. He talked to Dumbledore, and later found out, shockingly, that Alyssa had been engaged to Sirius when they were in their late teens. They had broken it off because their parents forbid them to get married. Almost on time, Alyssa passed away the next day.

As the month went on, Harry felt his hatred grow stronger for Voldemort. Voldemort had taken the life of his parents, his best friend, his godfather, the only woman his godfather had ever loved, and two very close friends. But that wasn't the worst to come.

Jay had woken in the middle of December, two months after he had been kidnapped. But when Madame Pomfrey checked on his the next morning, he was dead.

Harry watched sat with Hermione constantly, even though worry filled his stomach. All four people taken by Voldemort had died, and Hermione had definitely endured the most shock.

So in early January, Harry thought he was dreaming when Hermione opened her large brown eyes. "Hermione!" he said, dropping the book he was reading.

"Harry," she croaked weakly.

"What is it?" he asked.

"He's gone, isn't he?" Hermione asked, her eyes beginning to flutter.

Harry bit his lip, not wanting to tell her that her true love was dead. Harry nodded solemnly.

Hermione nodded before she passed back into unconsciousness. Harry sat there for a little while just watching her. Her body then began to go into extreme convulsions.

Harry jumped up and tried to hold her down as he called for Madame Pomfrey. She came running. As Hermione began to stop and lay limply on the bed, Madame Pomfrey grabbed her wrist to make sure her heart wasn't beating to fast.

Madame Pomfrey dropped the worst, and Harry knew what was coming. "She's gone," Madame Pomfrey said silently.

Harry knew that that was it. He couldn't handle this anymore. He ran out of the school and just ran into the woods.

He just stayed running. He couldn't handle any of it. It was too overwhelming. But then again, could you blame him? He lost his two best friends, three good friends, his only family that loved him and his godfather's ex-fiancé. All that stress on the seventeen year old boy wasn't exactly happiness.

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All of the funerals were held in early February. Madame Pomfrey had realized all of them were going to die after Justin died, but she didn't want to tell anyone, so she kept it a secret.

All the families along with the students and the teachers filled the small hill. Mr. and Mrs. Finch-Fletchley (is that Justin's name?) sat there, just staring ahead.

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander were obviously trying to cry, but you could make out the small tear tracks down there face.

Mr. And Mrs. Granger and the Weasley's, on the other hand, were full out sobbing. Mrs. Weasley couldn't stop shaking and Mrs. Granger was hyperventilating because she was crying so much.

Most of the teachers were crying, except of course, for Snape. But would you expect him to cry? The enitre student body was crying as well. The girls had loved Jay because he was cute. Genevieve was just a sweet soul. Justin was always there for a laugh. Hermione always helped people if they were confused by something. Ron, well, he was Ron.

Alyssa had only been 25, so her parents were easily seen for they were somewhat older than the rest.

But many students wondered why Tonks, Lupin, and Mad-Eye Moody were there. Why? Well, it was because Harry Potter was dead.

Harry committed suicide two days after Hermione's death. All that was found with him was a bloody knife that he had slit his throat with and a letter. It explained that he wouldn't be able to do it anymore. This wizard had cost him too much. He was sorry that he was leaving the world defenseless against Voldemort, for he was one of the only ones who could stop Voldemort. But he had needed to do this.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was closed the next year.

0-0-0-0-0-

I'm, sorry I ended it like that. But I had no idea how to. That was a little odd to end it like that. But I thought it would have sounded funny if people lived even thought the circumstances were grave. Would the impact of this story have been as deep as it is now if Ron had somehow miraculously lived? No, so I did it like this. Please don't hate me for this.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story **_Can You Handle It?_** I enjoyed writing it, and although I don't know if I'll be writing another Harry Potter story, I am happy you guys stuck with me, especially through my writer's block periods. Thanks.

-dark16angel


	12. Author's Final Note

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**Okay, here's what I have to say to you as my final note. I looked at my last couple reviews and although I am happy that some of you enjoyed the ending, I know many were upset by the sudden easy downfall of the whole thing. I know that it was wrong to keep you moving on such a fast pace and let you just fall right there and then. I am sorry about that, but that doesn't give you the right to insult me and the way I choose to write my story. **

**It is my story, and if you want to give me a different ending for it, fine, go ahead. But if you don't, then just tell me you were upset and not how I should have ended it. It kind of hurt me a little. If you want a bubbly happy story, don't read mine. Get over it!**

**I know I probably sound like a whiny bitch right now, but I felt like I needed to say this. When I read a review (who shall remain nameless) that said that they were sorry I ended it this way, that's fine. But they went on to tell me how I should've ended it. It's my story! If you really want to give me a different ending, go to my profile and send it to my email address. But, unfortunately, Ron must stay dead. SORRY! **

**I'll read over them and think about which one if I get any and repost it. If not, my ending will stay. **

**I'm sorry I was a little repetitive through this whole thing, but I needed to tell you how I felt. Thanks for everything. **

**-dark16angel**


	13. Alternate Ending

Here's the deal. I was bored one day (yesterday to be correct), so I read this story. When I got to the end, I knew that if I had been a reader reading this, I would have flamed the author so bad. Why should I have put you through this?

So, this is why I have decided to come up with an alternate ending. Yes, ALTERNATE ENDING! If you liked the other one a lot, don't read this. But, if you did not (especially meaning you bluejolteon), this is for you. So here it is. And, just to let you know right now, some of this might not totally agree with whatever J.K. Rowling writes, but I figured you'd rather have people live than me be correct.

Oh, by the way, this will be in Hermione's point of view. (THIS MEANS SHE WON'T DIE!)

------

I never knew how long it lasted. I wasn't told. Even when I woke up, I could hardly remember what had happened on the dreadful night long ago.

The last thing I could remember was Ron's face looking at me as if he had forgiven me. That was it.

When I opened my eyes, the brightness of the room caused me to shut them immediately. I had been in complete darkness for who knows how long.

"Hermione, are you awake?" someone called out. The voice sounded muffled in my ears, but I could easily recognize it as Harry's.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes again, hoping they would quickly adjust to the light. Harry was sitting next to the bed where I was laying.

When he realized I was truly awake, his eyes bulged. "Hermione, you're awake!"

I cleared my dry throat, hoping to get some words out. After I swallowed a lot, I could feel that I could talk. "Harry, what day is it?" I croaked, surprised at the sound of my voice.

Harry avoided eye contact for as long as he could. "Well, the big thing happened on October 31st and early November 1st. Today…today is January 2nd," Harry said motioning to the window.

White blankets of snow covered the entire grounds. "I've-I've been like this for two months? Oh god," I said, placing my hand on my forehead.

I began to sit up as Harry helped me. "So what happe- oh my god," I said as I felt my heart stop beating.

"What? What is it?" Harry asked, looking really worried.

I began to pant as if I were out of breath. "Is he- Ron- is he alive?" I said, hoping that Harry would be straightforward with me. I just needed to know about him.

Harry chewed on his lip. "Um…"

I closed my eyes. "Harry, I need you to just tell me the truth," I forced upon.

Harry looked to the bed next to me. Ron was on his side, eyes shut. "He hasn't woken yet. Madame Pomfrey said it could go both ways. His parents were told he probably wouldn't make it the day after it happened. I'm surprised he has," Harry said, almost drifting away.

"Why?" I questioned confused.

"Hermione, Ron was hit by the death curse."

My breathing stopped. "How is he alive though? You die immediately after you are hit by that," I replied, confused to my wits.

Harry shrugged. "No one knows. Dumbledore went over, expecting him to be dead. I really don't remember. I had heard Voldemort cast the curse, so I began to scream hysterically. Professor McGonagall was trying to clam me down. I remember Dumbledore coming over to McGonagall. His face looked utterly puzzled. He whispered something into her ear, causing her to jump backwards in shock. Dumbledore turned to me and said that both you and Ron were alive for now. I collapsed after that, or that's what I've been told."

I nodded. "I think I'm going to go back to sleep Harry. Thanks for telling me everything," I said as I laid down, acting like I was tired, which I wasn't in the least.

Harry nodded. "Okay, I'll be back later," he said before he got and walked out.

I laid against the pillow. I was drained. I wasn't tired, but the past couple things I heard just drained me.

I turned over. But when I did, I was almost face to face with him. I shuddered and quickly turned over as my heart began to hurt immensely.

------

I sat on the bench outside the hospital wing after Potions class and before dinner. How could I eat? How could I live?

I had been released a week ago. The other three who were captured had been released only a few days before I woke up. Alyssa Monroe hadn't made it since her body had so much stress on it due to Voldemort controlling her for over three months. I had a hard time with one night. Ron was the only one left. No one really enjoyed talking about what happened that night. I got a few questions about how it felt, but most people ignored me, or worse, stared at me as if I was going to rip their heads off any minute. The only ones I could talk to were Harry, Jay, Justin, and Genevieve.

I stood up from the bench and gather my books. Deciding that I would skip eating again, I walked into the building. Madame Pomfrey luckily realized what I was going through, and she let me stay through things like meals.

I sat in my usual spot next to his bed. Sometimes I spoke to him, but usually I just sat there and held his hand. Today, though, something felt off.

I felt awful. Then it hit me- all this was my fault. Ron's life hung in balance because I let myself fall in love with him. It was because of me.

I pulled my legs up on the chair, wrapped my arms around them and buried my head in my knees as I began to sob.

I realized I hadn't cried since the night before this happened, which made me cry even harder.

As I continued to weep, I heard a noise. Small, yet distinct. I ignored it. I pulled my head out of my tear-soaked knees and looked up as tears trickled off my eyelashes and down my cheeks.

This was the boy I was in love with, and yet, it was my fault he was like this. MY FAULT!

I began to cry again, so my head returned to my knees.

"Why are you crying?" a voice said.

I looked over my shoulder towards the entrance. No one was there. "Wrong way," the voice said again.

I turned my head quickly. I was met by a pair of large blue eyes. Ron looked at me smiling weakly.

My mouth opened widely. I smiled. "Ron…you're alive," I said breathlessly.

-------

I never knew what euphoria felt like until I actually experienced it. The school was abuzz. Ron was alive.

Ron had woken up two weeks ago, but he'd only been out of the hospital wing for two days. Suddenly, with Ron's making it through, the school returned to normal even though I doubted that it ever would after what had happened.

Today we were going up to see Dumbledore, for he had requested that Harry, Ron, and I speak with him as soon as Ron and I were feeling better.

We arrived in his office and were told to sit down. "I believe you three know why I asked you to join me here today."

We all nodded. Dumbledore turned to Ron, who was clutching my hand. "Well, Mr. Weasley, you have survived the _Avada Kedarva_ curse. Congratulations," Dumbledore said.

Ron cocked his eyebrow. "Um, thanks?" he said, almost asking.

Dumbledore smiled. "Would you like to know why?" Ron nodded immediately, as did Harry.

"When I took over as headmaster of this school, I had hoped it would be a place where children who wished to learn magic could call home. And it was, for a while at least. Until Thomas Marvolo Riddle came to this school. He was a bright student. But after he left, things at this school would never be the same."

"Then, on that one night, everything changed. Harry lived, and I knew someday he would be here. When he would be here, Voldemort would try his hardest to come in and finish the job he had started that night. So, I looked through many many books, and found it. In an ancient book from the early 1300s, I found a counteracting spell to the death curse. It would protect the school from any death curses until the first one was performed here. That was one you Ron. Now, the shield is gone. But that is how you lived," Dumbledore said.

Ron stared for a moment. I looked over at Harry, who was smiling deviously, as if he was one up on Voldemort.

"As for you, Ms. Granger, you will be fine after this. Nothing will be a sort of aftereffect on you. I must say, you three were extremely brave. Facing off with him while he controlled one of your best friends is an extremely hard thing. And I hold respect for you for doing that."

Ron, Harry and I were all smiles.

-------

As we were walking back to the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry was going nuts. "Ha! He thought he was going to get me with that one! But I wasn't going to fall for it! I've got nerves of steel!" Harry yelled happily.

I looked at Ron, who simply rolled his eyes. Harry kept walking, well, actually jumping, and shrieking down the hall as Ron and I stood there watching.

I turned to him. He smiled at me. I wrapped my arms around him. His arms wrapped around me. "You had no idea how scared I was," I mumbled, basking in the warmth from his embrace.

"Watching you being possessed wasn't exactly enjoyable either," Ron answered.

I looked at him and laughed, rolling my eyes.

After we separated, Ron took my hand as we began to walk again. "Hermione, there's something I want to talk to you about," he said.

"What is it?" I replied, looking at him.

"With the exception of the past two months, this year has probably the best year I've had," Ron muttered, looking forward.

I looked at him strangely. "Why?"

He stopped and turned to me. "Because of you," he answered.

I was taken aback by that. "What?"

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but…I think I'm in love with you. Head over heels in love," he murmured looking down at his feet.

I smiled and picked his chin up. His cheeks were bright red in embarrassment. "Why are you embarrassed about that?" I questioned quietly.

"I've never said that to anyone except my mom," he said smiling. "And when I do, it's usually answered by Fred and George coming up with some wisecrack."

I giggled to myself. "I have different answer to it this time."

He looked baffled. I cleared his thoughts by pressing my lips against his. My arms wrapped around his neck as his wrapped around my waist.

After a few minutes, we broke for air. "Was that better than a wisecrack from Fred and George?"

Ron nodded. "Oh yeah."

"Oh, by the way, for what you just told me, I have something to say to it," I said, referring to when he told that he loved me.

"What?"

"I love you too," I said as a grin spread on my face. Sooner than I thought, we had assumed the position that we had been in before.

That day, I realized two things. 1.) - you can never count out anyone to fall in love with. Four years ago, I had wanted to separate my self as far as I could from Ronald Weasley. Now, I needed to be near him. It was magnetic. 2.) – no matter what the odds, no matter what is happening, you can make it through. If the only boy you've ever loved is hit by a death curse, don't think of him as dead until he is. With your friends close by, you can handle it.

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I really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really like this ending better. Don't you? If you do, you've got to tell me!


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